


Blue Wild Destiny

by AnimeWolf38



Series: Blue Wild Destiny AU [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Also I love Shadow get off my back, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Being Azure is suffering, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I love angst, I was so mad, M/M, Multi, Ruby Rose (RWBY) Needs a Hug, Slow Updates, This was before volume 7 was announced, Volume 6 rewrite, Volume 7 Rewrite, and i like it?, at least I hope, basically what would happen if my OCs were there, but i love her, endless angst, i had to change Azure’s semblance slightly, including me, irregular updates, it was just gonna be a volume 6 rewrite, my friend and I wondered how a semblance opposite of Qrow’s would work, tbh half the time this writes itself, then Clover showed up, this is actually pretty planned out mostly, volumes 1-5 will be in flashbacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23031604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeWolf38/pseuds/AnimeWolf38
Summary: Seeing someone close to you die is heart wrenching. Azure knows this. Being thrown into a giant fight against an unstoppable power? Almost worse. It’s ironic really. A semblance that either makes her lucky or people around her unlucky and she still gets stuck in this mess.At least her friends are here?
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Series: Blue Wild Destiny AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655332
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4





	1. Azure I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.instagram.com/p/B_MQoJLplmN/?igshid=1wqilg7gzo2to
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/B9AROg8gur8/?igshid=19l65tkx1nmq7
> 
> Two WONDERFUL fanarts of Azure!! Please check them out, these artists deserve love!

_The smell of smoke filled the air. The dark sky was a void of spinning lights. The screams of agony and howls of pain echoed through the tension of battle. Dark, looming figures destroyed everything in their reach._

_All of these things caused Azure to freeze in fear. Her white fox ears flattened to her scalp under her hood. But the worst thing was none of those. No, the worst was the blood._

_Blood of many, faunus and human alike, stained the walls and pooled on the ground. Azure’s own blood had mixed in it, along with her partner’s…_

_Azure’s eyes lifted slightly, her hood falling off her head as she looked up. Laying on the ground, right before her eyes-_

Azure woke up with a gasp. She looked around frantically, searching for a threat. Finding none, she breathed a sigh of relief. Bringing her hand up to her face, Azure was surprised to find her hand wet when she pulled it away. She had been crying.

She sighed. That dream had haunted her ever since the Fall of Beacon. Just the image of her body lying dead on the floor, blood pouring from her stomach and mouth.

Azure choked, more tears streaming from her eyes. She needed to take a walk.

She pulled herself from the bed, nearly falling over, not used to the movement of the train car.

She was trying to get to Atlas, and this train was taking her as close as she could get. Her sister’s old teammate had asked for her and Azure’s help in Atlas.

That was the reason that Azure currently found herself on a train with her sister, carrying enough supplies to last them a week.

As she strolled through the halls, she zoned out a bit, barely hearing anything going on around her, even with her arctic fox ears.

As she continued to walk, she heard a familiar voice from one of the rooms. She could recognize that voice anywhere. The high pitched and carefree voice Azure had missed since Beacon fell.

She stopped at their doorway and leaned on the edge. “Ruby!” she called.

Ruby immediately responded to her name by spinning around and letting out a squeal of joy. “Azure! I haven’t seen you in forever!” She ran at Azure, crashing into her as she brought her into a bear hug.

“I missed you too…” Azure wheezed. “But, please, I need to breathe, it’s essential for survival.”

Ruby pulled away, grinning sheepishly. “I just missed you so much! We haven’t seen many of our friends since… you know.”

Azure grimaced and nodded. “Yeah, my sister and I have to get to Atlas to meet up with Nickel. He needs our help with something, though he didn’t have time to say anything before Ironwood dragged him to his airship.”

“We’re also going to Atlas, too! We have to find Ironwood. We can go together,” Ruby suggested.

“Considering Nickel is probably glued to Ironwood's side, I like that plan,” Azure said, nodding.

“We’ll just need to fill you in on a little bit. No, actually, we’ll need to fill you in on a lot.”

“Sounds exciting,” Azure said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“Very exciting,” Weiss said, walking up from behind Ruby.

“Sup, Weiss?” Azure said. “How’s life?”

“Busy. And confusing. But…” Weiss glanced at Ruby before looking back to Azure. “Definitely better than Atlas.” Azure smiled at the implication, pushing down the rising jealousy.

“Which we need to go to,” Ruby jumped in, “to secure this relic thingy.”

Azure’s smile shifted into a look of confusion. “Relic?”

“That’s one thing we need to explain,” Weiss said.

“Oscar has it right now,” Ruby said.

“Who the heck is Oscar?” Azure asked, wincing slightly at the small squeak in her voice. She had no idea what was going on and their conversation wasn’t helping.

“And that’s another thing we need to explain,” Weiss answered.

Azure just stared.

“We will fill you in later,” Ruby said.

The train suddenly lurched, sending Azure tumbling to her knees. Qrow, who Azure hadn’t even seen enter, spilled his drink right next to her, the liquid somehow not getting all over Azure’s blue hoodie.

She forced herself to stand, another lurch nearly sending her tumbling again.

“What is that?” Azure heard Yang ask.

Qrow rushes to the window, looking out. He frowned. “Grimm.”

“Just our luck,” Blake sighed.

“It’s not your luck,” Qrow muttered.

“Well it certainly isn’t mine,” Azure quipped.

Qrow didn’t acknowledge her retort. He rushed to the doorway, pulling out his weapon as he went. Team RWBY followed, grabbing their weapons as they ran, barely slowing their pace.

Azure pulled a handle that fit perfectly in her hand from her green belt, rushing after them. As she ran, she pressed a button placed on the middle of the handle, causing it to extend on both sides into a staff.

She jumped onto a ladder after Qrow and the others, hauling herself upwards with one hand. When she reached the top, she crawled onto the roof of the train, the wind causing her ears to whip backwards with her hair.

Azure grunted, pushing herself up into a standing position. This was not the time to sit around doing nothing. Grimm were everywhere, circling the train.

Azure twirled her staff, gripping it tightly. She shut her eyes, breathing deeply. She had to be ready.

A slight scent of rotten flesh flew past Azure. Now.

Azure pressed another button on her staff and swung, a blade stabbing a grimm right in the neck.

She stepped on the beast, pulling out the blade, blood dripping off the blade. The grimm let out a small whine, dissolving into nothing.

A sudden lurch sent Azure into a crouch, her blade side of her staff stabbing into the roof of the train, keeping her stable.

A grimm flew right above Azure, it’s talon scrapping slightly against the top of her staff.

“Freaking semblance,” Azure muttered. She was getting rusty. Not that her fighting skills were getting worse. It was that she was used to someone having her back in a fight, always looking out for her.

 _This is_ not _the time_ , she reminded herself.

Azure pulled herself up, twirling her staff and stabbing the bladed end in another grimm’s eye. It let out a screech, kicking a talon right into Azure’s face, knocking the eyepatch askew.

Azure blindly swung her blade again, feeling the resistance of metal digging into matter. She clutched a hand to her face, lowering it to reveal blood covering her hand and the right side of her face.

She glared at the next grimm. It seemed to freeze for a second, it’s wings halting mid-flight. Before it could catch itself, it fell a few feet, slamming into the side of the train, sending a shorter boy to his knees.

“What are you doing, kid?” Azure yelled. “You shouldn’t be out here!”

The boy waved her off, pulling out his own staff. Azure’s eyes widened. Isn’t that Professor Ozpin’s? Didn’t he die during…

“I will be fine, Ms. Cambridge,” the boy spoke, his voice too deep for his body and similar to Ozpin’s. He blinked, stumbling slightly. After muttering something under his breath, he shook his head and held his staff at the ready again.

 _What the absolute heck is going on?_ Azure asked herself.

“Oscar, get those turrets shut off!” Qrow yelled. Azure winced at his words, her mind freezing for a second, before everything suddenly focused again, throwing off her balance. She quickly righted herself, pretending like nothing happened.

The boy nodded, missing Azure’s episode, and turning and sprinting over to a man who was desperately trying to shoot the grimm down, but without the turrets, would have been overwhelmed.

Azure shook her head, tearing her gaze from the boy and stabbing her weapon behind her, impaling a grimm without even looking.

Another Manticore lunged towards Azure, its claws outstretched, but a purple blur intersected its path.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Mazel asked, pulling her spear out of the fallen Manticore as it let out a dying squawk before dissolving into dust.

Azure shrugs sheepishly. “I didn’t really have time.

Mazel rolls her eyes, twirling her spear and moving to stand beside Azure. “Well I’m up now. Let’s go.”

The next couple of minutes flew by, the group taking down grimm after grimm with practiced ease. Azure was so focused on the couple of grimm in front of her, she didn’t even hear Oscar’s shout.

Another blur grabbed Azure around the waist and jumped in between the train cars, narrowly missing being hit by the tunnel.

Azure stood still in shock for a couple seconds, distantly hearing a scream of pain, before looking up to her savior.

“Shadow?” Azure yelled, pulling as far away as possible from him. Her feet wobbled on the edge of the train car for a moment, before she regained her balance and pointed her sword at the man’s throat.

Shadow threw up his hands in surrender, visibly gulping. Azure noted that his swords were sheathed, leaving him defenseless to her blade. Well, not entirely, as Shadow had aura, like every huntsman in training.

Azure narrowed her eyes, lowering her blade slightly, no longer having it resting on his Adam’s apple, but on his chest.

“Why are you here?” Azure seethed.

Shadow took a deep breath before speaking. “Is that any way to treat an old friend?” he asked nervously, his voice cracking slightly.

Azure scoffed. “Last time I saw you Amazon paid with her life,” she spat.

Shadow’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “Who did it?” he asked quietly, his voice shaking slightly still.

“Oscar,” Azure mutters, lowering her blade. “But we can discuss this later, right now, we have to deal with the grimm.”

Shadow nods. “Like old times,” he asks hesitantly, even as his confidence began to return.

Azure rolls her eyes. “Don’t push it lover-boy, I don’t know how I feel about this yet.”

Shadow nods, drawing his swords and falling into an offensive position.

They both leapt back on top of the train, practically in sync.

“Azure! Shadow!” Ruby’s voice echoed over the rushing wind. “We’re cutting the train car! Get over here!”

The two faunus rushed to Ruby’s side. Ruby opened her mouth again, preparing herself for a leader speech.

“Jaune and the others are cutting the train car and staying with the passengers so Ren can mask them from the grimm with the help of Jaune’s semblance.”

Azure opens her mouth to speak, but decided against it after a look from Shadow.

“We’re going to meet them in Argus, but the relic is attracting grimm and we can’t risk so many people’s lives. We’ll find another way.”

Azure nodded, deciding not to ask any questions until later.

“Good. Now let’s all do our jobs,” Ruby concluded, holding Crescent Rose up and shooting a grimm out of the air.

The train lurched yet again, and the car in front of them began to speed away, leaving the group alone on an empty train car.

Azure instinctively clung to Shadow, gripping the straps of his uniform. She felt a pressure under her feet, pulling her toward the train roof. Looking down, she saw a white glyph surrounding her and Shadow, coating the roof of the train. Another lurch, and everything went white.


	2. Indigo I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t really manage to edit this, so if you spot any errors, please tell me.  
> Also I just want to thank those that have continued to encourage me over this story. It means a lot.

“Now if that was your only business here, then leave,” Cordovin said, straightening her posture again. Indigo winced at a cracking sound from her back.

“We can’t just leave now-“ Indigo started.

“I will not converse with those of… questionable circumstances.” Cordovin turned and began to walk away. The two guards saluted, shuttling the gate behind her.

“I’ll show you questionable, you waste of space!” Indigo hollered after her, beginning to dart forward.

Brandy lunged, catching the girl by her underarms, forcing her to halt.

“Let it go, Indigo. We’ll find another way,” Brandy said, loosening his grip slightly.

Indigo huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from the gate. Her wolf ears flicked in anger.

“Look,” Brandy sighed. “We can find another way to Atlas. We know Amber managed to do it.”

Indigo’s aggravated expression softened slightly. She sighed, her ears lowering with her gaze.

“You’re right,” she said after a few moments.

“Of course I am,” Brandy said, pointing a thumb at his chest. “This dude always knows what he’s doing.”

“You knocked me off the boat earlier during the grimm attack,” Indigo deadpanned.

Brandy shrugged. “I had to make you mad somehow. Without your semblance we would have lost.”

“Liar,” Indigo said, rolling her eyes. “You literally apologized fifty times afterwards.”

“Hyperbole.”

“I counted.”

Brandy laughed. He doubled over, clutching his stomach as he wheezed.

“N-nickel rubbed off on you, huh?” he managed out. He hit his chest a couple of times as he began to cough.

“How did Cade put up with you?” Indigo muttered. The same girl who almost broke her foot because of a sarcastic comment. She was paired with Brandy Charcoal, the least serious person Indigo had ever met in her life.

“She has a great sense of humor once you get to know her. As stubborn as Azure, as sarcastic as me, and she’s as noble as…” Brandy trailed off, his expression sobering for a moment.

Indigo’s ears lowered slightly. It hurt more than she could describe to see the carefree man so troubled.

Brandy wiped his eyes with his sleeve, putting on a smile so bright, Indigo almost forgot what his previous expression looked like.

“We should try and find another way to…” Brandy’s eyes widened. “Holy crap is that Jaune?”

Indigo gave him a skeptical look, but turned to look where Brandy’s eyes had fallen.

“Holy crap that’s Jaune,” she echoed.

“Brandy!”

A pink blur shot past Indigo, barreling into the man behind her.

“Crap, Nora. As strong as ever I see,” Brandy wheezed from his spot on the ground, having been tackled by Nora.

“Why are you guys here?” Jaune asked, directing his question more towards Indigo as Brandy struggled to pull Nora off him.

“Well, Cade told us to follow her right before she left for Atlas. I didn’t want to leave Azure alone, but she insisted I go. Indigo needed to stop at Menagerie before going to Atlas to meet with Nickel, so I just went with her,” Brandy answered, cutting off Indigo. She closed her mouth and turned a glare to Brandy, who shrugged sheepishly.

Nora gasped dramatically. “That’s where _we’re_ going, too!” she yelled, putting her hands to the side of her face and jumping a couple times.

Indigo rolled her eyes, shooting a glance to Ren. He simply gave her a look, and Indigo understood.

_One does not control the hyperactive one._

“We were actually just going to ask about getting an airship,” Jaune said, grabbing Nora by the shoulder and pulling her away from Brandy, giving him room to breathe.

Indigo scoffed. “Lost cause. Their leader is a piece of crap.”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “What happened?” he asked.

“She came out, we asked for her help, explained our situation, she said she didn’t believe us, then insulted me, and then just walked away,” Indigo fumed, throwing her hands in wild motions as she spoke. “We even had a letter from Nickel for proof. I knew I should’ve told him to sign it,” Indigo mumbled.

Brandy put a hand on Indigo’s shoulder, shooting her a sympathetic look. “Point is, I don’t think we’re going to be able to convince her to let us through to Atlas.”

“I guess we’ll have to wait for Ruby and the others to get here and come up with a plan,” Jaune mused. He then shrugged.

“So, you guys want to come with us to my sister’s house. Her and her wife are letting us stay with them while we’re here in Argus.”

Indigo brightened. “Aw, heck yeah! I haven’t been able to sit down properly in weeks.”

“Another hyperbole.”

“It is not, shut up, you oaf.”

“That one actually was a hyperbole, but whatever.” Brandy shrugged as they began walking.

An awkward silence filled the air as they all looked one way or another, not knowing how to start a conversation.

“So…” Brandy tried. “Why are you guys trying to get to Atlas?”

Jaune looked back over his shoulder for a second, before having to turn away to regain his balance after tripping over a rock. Brandy had to stifle a giggle.

“We need to get to Ironwood. We have a… situation,” Jaune tries to explain.

“We are trying to save the world from an evil being by collecting these relics and keeping them safe!” Nora adds.

“More descriptive,” Indigo deadpans. “Also way too loud. We’re trying to get to Nickel. So same place. Why are you guys going to Ironwood of all people?”

“Ozpin isn’t dead,” Ren says. Indigo opens her mouth to speak, but is once again cut off by Ren. “He now shares a body with another boy. Qrow already knew it would happen.”

Indigo’s jaw dropped as she tried to stutter out a response. Not only was that the most she had ever heard Ren say in one conversation, but he sounded like a nut job.

“I’m sorry. _What?_ ”

Brandy scratched his head, mumbling something about alcohol. “That’s… a lot to take in,” he finally says aloud. “But, I guess right now, we have no choice but to believe you.”

Indigo tries to object, but is cut off by a glare from Brandy. She huffs at getting interrupted for the third time, but doesn’t bother trying to speak again.

She guessed she had to give them some credit. They weren’t the type to lie about something so important. But it still sounded ridiculous.

Indigo slumped her shoulders as she sighed. “This has been the most hectic three months of my life.”

“Wait till you hear about our journey,” Nora cuts in, wrapping an arm around Indigo’s shoulders, ignoring the growl from her, and waving a hand in front of their faces.

“I hate everyone. I’m not surviving two days with you guys.”

Brandy hits her lightly on the back. “We’ll live,” he says simply. Indigo rolled her eyes and pulled herself away from Nora and sped up to Jaune.

“How do you deal with her?” she asked.

“How do you deal with Amber?” Jaune countered.

Indigo did a double take. “Someone is a lot sassier than I remember.” Indigo nodded her head. “Fair enough, though.”

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. “I grew up with seven sisters.”

“That would do it. I think. I’m an only child, I wouldn’t know.”

“Believe me,” Jaune sighed. “Imagine growing up with seven Ambers.”

“Unfair,” Indigo said. “She’s my girlfriend.”

Jaune paled for a second. “Oh yeah.”


	3. Shadow I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow’s POV as the group awakens after the train crash and how he deals with an angry Mazel and confused Azure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh dang this took me forever. Really sorry about the timing of this, but I’m watching and movie and I got a little bored.

Shadow awoke to a blade being pressed to his throat. It wasn’t the first time, but it wasn’t any more pleasant than any previous times.

“What are you doing here?” the girl holding the spear the blade was connected to growled.

Shadow stared for a couple more seconds before his brain registered what was happening.

“Ah, Mazel,” he said calmly. He nudged the spear aside with his fingers. “Fancy seeing you here.”

The look on Mazel’s face suggested she wasn’t amused.

“Okay, okay,” he relented. “I found Blake and Sun in Menagerie, and I helped them with the White Fang.” He cleared his throat, sitting up slightly. “When they met up with the rest of the team, I decided to join them. I wasn’t following you guys if that’s what you were wondering.”

Mazel continued to glare at him for a bit, before pulling her spear away and backing off. “Fine. This isn’t the time to argue right now anyway. Help me wake the others.”

Shadow nodded and stood. His eyes immediately drifted over to Azure, laying in the snow about five feet away. He walked carefully over to her and knelt down.

“Hey, Azure,” he said softly. Shadow shook her shoulder a couple times. “Get up.”

Azure groaned before sitting up and rubbing her eye. She jerked her hand back violently and fell over.

“Ow, snow in my eye, snow in my eye,” she cried. She desperately wiped her eye with her sleeve before blinking it open.

“Oh my gosh. I wasn’t dreaming,” she said airly, staring up at Shadow’s face.

“You could never see someone as handsome as me in a mere dream,” Shadow said, only half joking. He honestly just wanted to see her reaction.

Azure’s pale skin turned bright red, almost matching the color of her visible eye.

Shadow would never admit it aloud, but he thought her blushing face was a beautiful contrast to the blue ends of her hair.

He felt his own face begin to heat up at the thought, and shook his head rapidly. Now was no time for such things.

“We need to wake the others,” he eventually said, moving from his kneeling position to a stand. He offered his hand to Azure, giving a flirtatious grin.

Azure’s face shifted between five different emotions before she took the offered hand, hauling herself up and dusting the snow off her clothes. She then looked up at Shadow and punished him in the shoulder, hard.

Shadow hissed as he rubbed his arm. “Alright, I deserved that.”

By the time Shadow turned around, everyone was already hauling themselves up. He could see Oscar looking frantically for something.

“Where’s the relic?” he asked.

“Right here,” came Ruby’s reply. She held up to show it, but made no move to give it back. Even when Oscar went to take it, she pulled it towards herself, tucking it to her chest.

Azure locked on in concerned confusion as Shadow felt his stomach drop. This wasn’t the time to be fighting amongst themselves, even Mazel agreed to that.

The rest of the group, except for Qrow, seemed to shuffle slightly closer to Ruby. Shadow grabbed Azure’s shoulder and pulled her away from both of them slightly. Mazel looked back to them with a look of dread.

Shadow motioned her over, but she quickly signed to him. _”I have to be able to intervene.”_

Shadow tightened his grip on Azure’s shoulder. She saw Mazel’s signing as well. Her brow furrowed in worry, but she didn’t try to convince her sister.

The tension in the air only seemed to grow thicker as seconds passed. Shadow’s other hand rested on one of his swords.

“Still alive!” came an unfamiliar voice. Everyone startled, turning to the speaker. “In case anyone cared,” said an old woman, resting on her slightly ominous cane.

The tension in the air seemed to dissipate as the main focus became the woman. After a second though, everyone turned back to Oscar.

“Why didn’t you tell us about the relic attracting grimm?” Yang snarled. “You think that would be important to mention! Now we’re stranded and have a defenseless old lady!”

“My name is Maria Calavera, and I am not defenseless,” the woman said. Everyone seemed to ignore her.

“Yang, knock it off,” Qrow said, not even glancing in her direction.

Oscar didn’t flinch. “Right now isn’t the time to interrogate me, miss Xiao Long,” he said.

 _Ozpin,_ Shadow noted.

“Oh? And when is?” she asked, crossing one arm across her chest, the other holding her bike up.

“When we are not in immediate danger.”

“Does it even matter?” Blake cut in. “Apparently we’ve been attracting grimm since we left anima.”

“You can’t just keep something like that hidden from us,” Mazel said softly, but her voice carried through to the whole group. When she next spoke, she raised her voice slightly. “I don’t really know what’s going on, but something like that should be mentioned. It’s not like we’re going to betray you.”

“Do you really think Lionheart was the first?” Ozpin snapped, turning to glare at Mazel, who stepped back slightly, gazing at him in confusion.

Azure shook her head and stepped forward slightly, shaking off Shadow’s hand. “Oscar… was it? Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but if that thing attracts grimm, that something we need to know. Too many lives could have been lost because of that.” Azure paused, inhaling slightly, tensing her shoulders.

“I understand losing trust in someone, being betrayed when you thought you could trust them with your life.” Azure’s shoulders dropped as her gaze flickered backwards. Shadow felt his heart clench in guilt. “But we have to put that aside and realize what needs to be said.”

Shadow feels pride swell within him. He knew that timid girl he trained would become an amazing person given time. If only he could have seen her grow more than he really did.

He shook his head slightly. Now wasn’t the time to reminisce over their previous friendship.

Oscar scowled. “I do not need to explain anything to you, Ms. Cambridge. That was a miscalculation on my part. Now we must continue if we are to find shelter.”

He moved to take the relic from Ruby again, but she took a step back, pulling it out of his reach yet again.

Oscar froze in place, his arm shaking in the air. Everyone tensed, watching in confusion as his whole body began to tremble.

“Hurry,” he wheezed out. “He’s… trying to stop you.” Oscar winced, jerking his arm back slightly. “Her name is Jinn. Say her name.”

Ruby glanced down at the relic with a torn look. Her brow furrowed as she opened her mouth to speak. “Jinn?” she called.

Azure stepped closer, pushing past Shadow, who tried to reach for her again before sighing and following her toward Ruby.

The relic glowed brightly, and in a flash of light, a blue fog began to stream from it.

Shadow gawked as the spirit began to form a woman. A _very_ naked woman. He flushed and averted his gaze, turning his attention to his shoes instead.

A glance to Azure showed she was in the same boat, staring to the side with her face and ears burning red.

When Jinn began to speak, Shadow dated to glance back over to her, focusing on her words to keep his brain from short circuiting. He tuned in a little after she began to speak.

“You’re in luck,” he caught. “I can still answer…”

“That’s enough!” Ozpin yelled, lowering his head further, almost touching his forehead to the snow.

“two questions this era,” Jinn finished.

Everyone, including Shadow, turned to stare at Ozpin with a mix of betrayal and anger. Azure and Mazel exchanged glances, mirroring the other’s confused look.

“You lied?” Shadow asked.


	4. Brandy I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brandy and Indigo bond over not being able to help their friends. Also, Team JNR is there for a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me forever hnnn

Brandy shifted in his seat as he cradled the mug in his hand. He opened his mouth to speak, only to shut it again as words failed him.

“So you’re saying,” Indigo beat him to it, “that you guys go separated on a train, and Team RWBY still hasn’t shown up?”

“That’s pretty much it!” Nora said, flopping down next to Ren as she downed her water. Ren had banned her from the coffee before she even opened her mouth to ask. “They’re fine.”

“Anything else we should know about?” Indigo growled, grinding her teeth together in an obvious attempt to keep her cool.

Jaune cleared his throat. “Azure, Mazel, and a guy named Shadow were also there.”

Brandy sat up ramrod straight at the mention of the man. “Shadow?” he asked incredulously. “Why would he be with you?”

“He’s a nice guy, kind of weird, but nice.” Jaune shrugged. “It was awkward with the whole White Fang thing at first.”

“Mazel was there, too?” Indigo asked, suddenly a lot more interested.

“And Azure,” Brandy said. “Not surprising they would be together.”

“They must be trying to get to Atlas, too,” Indigo said airily, her eyes widened. “Nickel must have messaged Mazel.”

“And Cade probably mentioned something to Azure before leaving. Though, with Azure and Shadow in the same space, that’s going to be troublesome,” Brandy sighed. He rolled his shoulders back as he sipped from his mug.

“Is there anything we can do?” he asked, lowering the coffee onto the table.

“No,” Jaune said, shaking his head. “Without the others, we can't do much of anything. Our only idea was to speak to the Argus military, but we all saw how that went.”

Brandy let out a frustrated growl, rubbing his forehead to ward off the oncoming headache.

“So we’re sitting ducks,” he muttered. He sighed again. “I’m going to go train, and then I’m going to sleep, he announced, standing. He gulped down the rest of his coffee and set the mug back onto the table.

Indigo nodded. “I’ll join you,” she said quickly.

They both grabbed their weapons and headed outside to find a place they could train without bothering anyone.

“Hey, Brandy?” Indigo said.

Brandy hummed in acknowledgment. He glanced over to Indigo.

“Do you… ever miss Cade?” she asked hesitantly. Her eyes lowered to the ground as she walked, and Brandy stuck an arm out to keep her from running into a pole.

“Of course,” Brandy replied softly. “She was, and is, my best friend. I want to see her again, but I’m not going to spend all our time apart being sad about not being able to see her.” Brandy glanced over to Indigo, catching her eye. “And you shouldn’t either when it comes to Amber.”

Indigo glanced at him too. “Thank you,” she said quietly.” Brandy grinned.

“Of course,” he said proudly. “You can always count on me.” Brandy pointed to his chest with his thumb.

“Stop doing that,” Indigo deadpanned, speeding up to get away from Brandy.

Brandy snorted, also speeding up to catch up to her.

They continued walking, even as it began to get dark. Brandy did a double take at this. He didn’t know it was that late when they left. Too late to turn back now, though.

When they finally reached the clearing to train, the sun had already set, leaving the sky a navy blue that was slowly becoming an inky black.

Brandy wasn’t one for writing poetry, but he did love to read it. And right now, his mind was full of poems he read about the sky.

Indigo tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump. “Are we going to train or what?” she asked, mildly annoyed.

Brandy nodded, shaking himself slightly. He grabbed his pistols and fell into a battle stance. Indigo did the same, preparing her gauntlets and falling into a different stance.

“This’ll be different,” Brandy mused. “I’ve never fought against a member of Team MAIN.”

“I’ve never fought a member of Team ACAB,” Indigo said. “So this is a good training experience.”

Brandy twirled his pistols, his fingers narrowly avoiding the blades on the top with practiced ease. “Well, let’s get started,” he grinned.

Indigo nodded, before rushing forward, aiming a punch at Brandy’s stomach. Brandy avoided it with ease, twirling around her hand and activating his semblance, leaving him invisible.

Indigo grinned, redirecting her punch to the ground and firing off a round, causing Brandy to fly upward. He landed a couple feet away, his semblance fading due to his lack of focus.

He raised his pistols, shooting a couple rounds at Indigo which she avoided. When she stopped for a breath, Brandy shot again, managing to catch her off guard and graze her shoulder.

The fight continued before it eventually ended with Brandy barely winning, managing to pin Indigo with a blade to the neck.

“Good match,” he said.

Indigo nodded, though she looked annoyed. 

Brandy hauled her up by the hand and started dragging her back to the house they were staying at. Brandy couldn’t remember their names for the life of him, try as he might.

“What time is it?” he asked, glancing backwards for a second before returning his gaze to the sidewalk.

Indigo checked her watch. “Twelve thirty-eight,” she said after a minute of reading the clock.

Brandy nodded. They were out longer than he planned. No wonder he was so tired.

“We should hurry back,” he said, picking up his pace, causing Indigo to have to do the same.

“I didn’t think of that, captain obvious,” Indigo said sarcastically. Even without turning around, Brandy could see her eye roll. He smiled slightly.

He didn’t comment, choosing to continue walking. Their whole walk back, he never let go of her hand. Even though Indigo tried to close herself off, Brandy wasn’t going to let her try and doing everything alone. He would do what he could, though he was no Amber. And that was okay.


End file.
